wood badge for the 21st century heart of virginia council ...albest/woodbadge... · when you and...
TRANSCRIPT
The Gilwell Gazette Wood Badge for the 21st Century Heart of Virginia Council Course S7-602-13
Back to Gilwell Countdown
Day 3.5 March 25—April 19, 2013
Tradition Commitment Performance
Day 4 Gilwell Gazette Patrols may submit articles and pho-
tos for the Day 4 Gilwell Gazette by
e-mail to the troop scribe at pil-
[email protected] no later than
April 17.
We promised that we’d learn by doing. In
B-P’s day a Schoolmaster’s thoughts
turned to lecture and drill. But B-P re-
minded us in his Aids to Scoutmastership,
“It is not the curriculum of Scouting that is the most striking feature, but it is the
methods.” That is, a Scoutmaster’s heart
turns to the observation that three fourths
of Scouting is Outing. B-P made it clear
that:
1. The aim of Scouting is quite a simple
one.
2. The Scoutmaster gives to the boy the
ambition and desire to learn for him-
self by suggesting to him activities
which attract him, and which he pur-
sues till he, by experience, does them aright. (Such activities are suggested
in Scouting for Boys).
3. The Scoutmaster works through his
Patrol Leaders.
My own experience with a daughter in
Venturing and as a Girl Scout leader is
that the above is also true for girls. Paul
Petzolt, the founder of the National Out-
door Leadership School said “The fact is,
women often do better than men in the
outdoors. … they’re more likely to make decisions based on reality.”
When I was growing up it is literally
true that mom would tell us to simply “Go
outside and play.” And we did. We’d find
our own marvelous wonders in our back-
yards, either among our buddies or rang-
ing on our own. Richard Louv’s Last
Child in the Woods reported that there is a
wide and pervasive trend away from this.
He argued that sensationalist media cover-
age and paranoid parents have literally
“scared children straight out of the woods
and fields,” while promoting a litigious
culture of fear that favors the illusion of
“safe” regimented sports over imaginative
play. At the end of the day mom had the
wisdom to receive us at home and to listen
to our stories. Perhaps mom was my first
Scoutmaster. She agreed with B-P that “Scoutmasters deal with the individual
rather than the mass.”
Along these lines, John Graham’s
Outdoor Leadership is a book that’s full
of suggested techniques, common sense,
and tips for building self-confidence. For
instance: “To train people to make good
decisions in the outdoors, you’ve got to
take them into the outdoors, into real
situations, and let them face challenges by
themselves. They learn soon enough that if they make foolish decisions or if they
base their decisions on ‘hope’ or ‘faith’
that things will work out—they fail. And
if they make their decisions based on real-
ity, they succeed.” Here are some quotes
from the book regarding your work to-
wards a vision: Value your heart as much as your
head.
Be vulnerable. Being honest and
frank about yourself makes you
vulnerable. Be honest and frank
anyway.
One of the most important issues in
life is trust. You don’t build trust
by hiding your feelings, your
thoughts, your hopes, your fears.
You build trust by sharing, by
being honest and frank. Create and communicate a vision of
success—a clear, concrete picture
of the intended results that’s
shared by the entire team. Each
individual should have a clear
picture of the power and positive
impact of their role.
I’m really looking forward to camp-
ing with you guys! B-P said “A week of
camp life is worth six months of theoreti-
cal teaching.” Al Best, Course Director S7-602-11-1
Course Mentor, S7-602-13
Go Outside and Play
Ticket Key Concepts 1. Your ticket will include five significant goals.
2. The goals will be written in support of your current
Scouting responsibilities and should be designed to provide
maximum positive impact for youth membership.
3. At least one of the five goals will incorporate some aspect
of diversity. 4. If you wish, one goal of the five goals may involve
developing and applying a self-assessment tool to measure
your progress and effectiveness in relation to the other goals
on your ticket.
5. The goals written should follow the SMART principles.
6. For each goal, you will indicate: who, what, where, when,
how measured, why, and how verified.
7. Your Troop Guide will help you to prepare your ticket and
will approve it when it is completed.
8. You will have a ticket counselor assigned to you.
9. The five goals of the ticket must be completed within 18
months (which is by 10/22/2014 for this course). When you and your counselor have agreed that you have
fulfilled all the items on your ticket, you will receive your Wood
Badge certificate, beads, neckerchief, and woggle.
A Wood Badge Ticket Is: A Commitment.
A vision of personal improvement.
A vision of how the Scouter will lead.
A series of goals.
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time-based Your Ticket should be Guided by:
Your Personal Values.
Your Personal Vision.
Your Personal Mission.
Bandages, Vet Wrap & Tums Wood Badge is probably one of the safest Scouting activities
which you will participate in. No Scouts playing Mumblety-peg
with a pocket knife; no Tenderfeet swinging an axe for the first
time as they earn their Tote & Chip; no first timers learning to
light a propane stove after turning on the burner before figuring
out how a lighter safety switch works; and certainly no boys running through camp chasing each other through the tent guy
lines.
No, it’s pretty pedestrian. You’ll be camping out with sea-
soned Scouters; hanging out inside during meetings; and telling
tall tales around campfires. Most of the things that will happen
to you will fall into two categories. Those that you bring with
you and those that you will find at camp.
Those that you bring with you are your own personal, indi-
vidualized health issues. You should already have a doctor who
has worked with you on these. Bring your meds. You know
your physical limits. These I can’t help with. Actually, there is
one: since we are 90 adults, I do have an AED if something to-tally unexpected and unwelcome happens.
The others are those that you will find in camp. You are
likely to cut yourself turning the pages of the Wood Badge
handbook or writing out those last minute ticket items. Your
Patrol first aid kit should help you out. You can also trip and fall
while walking through camp. As a SEAL Team Instructor once
said: “pick up your feet.” Most people shuffle and trip. Pick up
your feet and I won’t have to use my vet wrap (MUCH better
than Ace bandages). Finally, there is a LOT of experimental
cooking that will be going on. Everyone is trying to make a rich,
exciting, exotic, or otherwise noteworthy meal. It is likely something your digestive system has NEVER encountered be-
fore. I won’t have any – but you better bring some Tums, Pepto
Bismol or other aids for your potential ills. Make sure your Pa-
trol QM packs some of those.
If you do decide to hurt yourself significantly, give me a
call. In the last year, I’ve only had to treat one broken leg, a few
sets of stitches, and one dehydration during Scouting activities.
I’m looking for some excitement! Actually, take care – I’d
rather see you all in Gilwell Hall than in the Health Lodge.
‘Biscuit’ - Robert McLemore
Stretch That Ticket! One of the most creative but challenging tasks in Wood
Badge is to plan out one’s ticket. You’ve been asked to en-
sure your ticket and the five goals within fit you like a glove
– they wrap around your role in Scouting, but each goal fits
within that glove to come together to make a meaningful,
useful experience for you. In keeping with that glove
metaphor, don’t be afraid to
s-t-r-e-t-c-h that glove a bit
to ensure you have room to
grow! Think a bit out of the
box, and consider some
goals that might push your
fit a bit! Maybe you can get
involved in a training event
or camporee at the District
level, reach out to a
Scoutreach Troop or Pack for some combined outdoor
adventures, or tackle a Scout
skill that you never thought
yourself capable to learn.
Make sure your ticket overall fits like you a glove, but
do yourself a favor and stretch it a bit to give yourself room
to grow!
John McCulla, Scoutmaster, WB2013
7 PRINCIPLES OF LEAVE NO TRACE • Plan Ahead and Prepare • Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces • Dispose of Waste Properly • Leave What You Find • Minimize Campfire Impacts • Respect Wildlife • Be Considerate of Other Visitors
(There will be a test!)
Message from your SPL I've received some questions about the use of the Scout sign and
so I went back to my Scout Handbook. Indeed the most recent
edition says “When a Scout or Scouter raises the Scout sign, all
Scouts should make the sign, too, and come to silent attention.”
The earliest editions of the Handbook had illustrations of silent
hand signals and one of these was for “attention”—the Scout sign with the right arm completely raised. Notice this is
a silent signal and should not be accompanied by a “ssshhh!” or
a battle cry of “Sign's Up!” The intention is to quickly get the
group's attention, then the leader can give the required informa-
tion and let everyone return to what they were involved with.
And it works all size groups, from a patrol to the National Jam-
boree Arena Show—where all it takes to silence a crowd of
100,000 is to hold up the Scout sign.
Projects, Totems and Flags, Oh My! All patrol reports indicate a great deal of teamwork and progress
toward completing the various tasks that were assigned during
the interim between the two course weekends. If you had known
ahead of time how much work would be required, would you still
have signed up for Wood Badge? Would you believe that when
you depart on Day 6, you will not be willing to trade this experi-ence, and all the work involved, for anything? The entire process
of being placed in a patrol with total strangers, and by the end of
Day 6, having a life-long bond with your patrol-mates is difficult
to describe to the uninitiated. Projects, totems, flags, skits, and
menus are merely the vehicles that transport us to new levels of
friendship and camaraderie. Not to mention all those handy new
leadership skills!
Conservation Project Attire On Day 5 we will report to Gilwell Field in our Activity Shirt
over top our ‘grungies’. Grungies are work clothes, such as jeans
and a shirt that can get dirty (NOT your scout uniform). Be sure
to pack accordingly for weekend two.
Looking forward to the (not boring) Patrol Campfire on Day 4 !!
Reminder: The platform tents (walls and floors) are set up
and will be available for patrol use. You are welcome to bring
your own tent if you prefer, but it is not necessary.
A Walk In the Woods At some point each of us is asked what our best memories of
Scouting are. These can run the whole gamut, and my own in-
clude memories from life as a Cub (making a rather slow pine
wood derby car, and passing the bowl of cooked spaghetti that
was supposed to be hair in a darkened basement at a Halloween
Den meeting) to life as a Scoutmaster (“Mr. McCulla, can you sign me off . . .” ; “Boys, Circle Up Time!”), to Courts of Honor
(recognizing that newest Eagle Scout– a Scout you first thought
would be hard pressed to make it!)
If hard pressed, I would say my best memories are those
gained on the trail. B-P had it right when he laid out the Scout-
ing program, and decided the outdoors was God’s great class-
room for his “game with a purpose.” I came back into Scouting
when my son James joined a Troop. Our experiences in Scout-
ing have included many a trek on the trail, from weekend loops
in Shenandoah National Park (SNP), to 50-60 Milers on the
Appalachian Trail in the Blue Ridge and SNP (most with ASM-
Stuff Bob Efird as my walking pal), and a challenging 110-miler in Philmont. Each trek had its own high-points, but there are
some common “wins” that occur in each. There is the simple
physical challenge of covering many a mile with a heavy pack.
There is the confidence that grows with schlepping all you need
for a few days on your back. There is the excitement of seeing
new places and marveling at the wonders of nature. There is the
camaraderie of walking and talking for miles, and of sharing
stories (some heard many times!) around the warm glow of a
campfire. And, there is the silence of the woods at night set
against a babbling brook and the call of a barred owl. I think
often of one night at a campsite at Mau-Har Shelter, down in the shadows of two mountains, and seeing a growing glow from
behind the ridge line. Lo and behold, the moon rose over the
ridge line just as bright as you would imagine a sunrise! Truly a
magical moment on the trail!
As Lord Baden-Powell wrote, “Nature has her spring clean.
And we, human people, follow her lead: we clean up our minds
and our blood by getting out in the open once more for camping
and hiking.”
So, with the title of Bill Bryson’s book in mind, I look for-
ward to our “Walk in the Woods” during Weekend Two, as we
continue our Wood Badge trek together and create our own shared memories!
John McCulla, Course Director, WB2013
Bob Efird and John McCulla on Three Ridges, 2008
The following is a list of personal gear that should be packed by scouts for
camping trips:
Back pack with waist belt fitted to your back
Sleeping bag
Sleeping pad / air mattress
Tent and ground cloth
Camp chair
Matches/lighter/fire starter
Compass
Notebook
Personal First Aid Kit
Jacket suitable for expected weather
Warm dry socks (wool and cotton)
Raincoat or poncho
Wash cloth/towel/small bar soap/zip-lock bag
Toothpaste and brush
Toiletries & Medications
Small mirror / comb
Pocket knife
Canteen or water bottle (one or more)
Flashlight with extra batteries (and extra bulb if needed)
Lip balm
Large plastic bag
Mess kit with utensils
Sunglasses
Day-pack
The following is a list of suggested gear for the patrol for camping trips:
Cookware (as needed for menu)
Coffee pot
Cooking utensils (as needed for menu)
Can opener
Measuring cup/spoons
Cooler
Water cooler
Water jugs/ containers
Stove and fuel (Follow BSA policies)
Dutch Oven (if needed)
Tarps
Rope and Twine
Axe, saw, and safety equipment
Lanterns
Shovel & Rake
Trash bags
Paper towels & napkins
Aluminum foil
Plates and utensils for patrol/guests
Dishwashing soap, pads, & bleach
Matches or lighter
Hand soap or sanitizer
Fire buckets
Wood Badge Cooking Guidelines 1. The patrol may spend only the monetary allotment set at the PLC.
2. The retail value of donated food counts towards your allotment.
3. You must make a full accounting to the SPL at the Day 4 PLC. Accounting to include original store receipts and written explana-
tion of expenditures or gifts.
4. Your patrol will have from 3-5 guests at every meal (see Patrol Leaders Notebook for more details.) Guests will likely bring their
own cup. 5. Each meal will be eaten as a patrol. Food will be served when all guests and patrol members are present. The meals will be eaten
with everyone sitting together at a table and be served family style or buffet style.
6. The meals will be nutritionally well-balanced.
7. Grace will be said at every meal.
8. The cooking area will be clean and sanitary in appearance.
9. The portions will be reasonable. Did everyone have enough to eat?
10. The meal will be evaluated based on the following:
a. Served on time
b. Appropriateness for youth to prepare during a Scout outing
c. Taste and appearance
d. Nutritional balance
e. Creativity and fun 11. Food will be stored in your campsite. Ice will be provided at your request.
12. Since all patrol members must attend all presentations, the patrol must make appropriate plans for preparation and clean up.
The meals you will be cooking in your campsite include:
Day Four: Lunch (4-5 guests); Dinner (3-4 guests); Cracker Barrel (no guests)
Day Five Breakfast (3-4 guests): Dinner (no guests); Cracker Barrel (no guests)
Day Six Breakfast (no guests)
Antelopes “Play in the SNOW!!!”
After a wonderful day three all the Antelopers arrived home
safely and set out to “Play” as a beautiful snow blanketed Gil-
well Field. We all thoroughly enjoyed “yesterday’s” Interfaith
Worship Service and presentations on Leave No Trace and The
Leading EDGE. We have been in reflective thought on the dif-
ferent leadership styles we witnessed in October Sky and coming to understand how our leadership style affects and inspires oth-
ers. We have begun to apply all the knowledge and skills we
learned last weekend in our relationships with our respective
families, troops and co-workers.
The Lopes have been extremely busy “Norming” on our
Patrol presentation and campfire skit and looking forward to
“Performing” with the other patrols. There have been many
emails and teleconferences and we have been able to keep the
focus moving forward as we get closer to the next weekend.
The Lopes are so looking forward to the up coming week-
end at Gilwell Field. Going to “Play” on the conservation project
to improve Camp T. Brady Saunders, camping and most of all eating all the delicious meals cooked over the campfire!! So until
“tomorrow”............. Everybody sing!
I used to be an Antelope, a good ol' Antelope too,
But now I'm finished Anteloping I don't know what to do.
I'm growing old and feeble And I can Antelope no more
So I'm going to work my ticket if I can.
Back to Gilwell, happy land,
I'm going to work my ticket if I can!
Bob Whites Looking Forward to Day 4… The Bob White Patrol made their way home from Day 3 in the
snow, humming “Back to Gilwell” the whole way there! Our
covey is working hard to get ready for our return for Day 4 of
Wood Badge. Jeff is working on totems, while serving as both Pa-
trol Leader and Quartermaster. Rick is working on the troop flag.
Bob and Chris are working on posters and handouts for our “Cool Campouts” presentation. Chuck and Bob are working on fun skits
for the campfire that the Bob White Patrol will be hosting. Cath-
erine is working on adornments and gathering skits from the rest of
the critters. Speaking of skits, thanks for our fellow feathered
friends the Eagles & Owls for submitting your skit ideas. It looks
like it will be a fun night! I look forward to hearing from our four
legged friends, the Bears, Beavers, Buffalos, Antelopes, and Foxes
with their skit ideas. Please send them to Cath-
[email protected]. The Bob Whites look forward to our Patrol
meeting next week. Thanks to Larry for hosting us! Before you
know it we will be camping out again. Back to Gilwell, happy
land; I’m going to work my ticket if I can!
Buffalo Patrol Sunday Day 3 The Buffaloes stopped roaming for a brief time this morning to
give thanks to God, our loved ones and friends and to rejoice in
the fellowship of Scouting.
Professor Werner Von Turner – AKA “Rocketman” an-
nounced that the Buffaloes won the “Most Creative” award for
our rocket that launched our tour guide, Mike Wilson, into space and safely returned him
to terra firma.
Throughout the
weekend we worked on
our tickets. By Sunday
the Buffaloes felt that
they had started the
j o u r n e y h o m e
to Gilwell Field. Our
vision of life is starting
to turn into a model for
Scouting success. We hope everyone
had a safe journey
h o m e a s w e
left Gilwell Field with
th e f i r st sn ow-
fall starting from a late
winter storm.
Beavers Day 3.5 Report Since we departed from the Cub Adventure Camp on that snowy
March 24th day, the Thunder Beavers have gone on to break the
Guinness Book of World Records in regards to e-mail exchanges.
The proliferation of information has been exciting, overwhelm-
ing, creative, passionate, excessive and the reason we find the
word AWE in AWESOME. For me, the only female in the group, it's been like watching an episode of Rachael Ray except it stars
all male chefs. These beavers have been breaking down the dams
to complete the tasks at hand from skit rehearsals to flag creation.
They take the Boy Scout Motto of BE PREPARED seriously and
will leave no branch unremoved to complete our vision and goals
along the way. Thunder, THUNder THUNDER Beavers are
READY for weekend TWO of the HOVC Wood Badge FUN
(Finding Understanding Needs)!!!!!
Thunder Beavers Are Ready for Action Owl Gazette Report The Owl Patrol has been busy indeed! The evening of the
23rd ended with witty discussion on tickets, and reflection on
the games and learning opportunities of the day. The WHO’s
moved into Sunday with fresh resolve and successfully used
our new found skills to fold the American Flag 3 times in our
given time. Way to swoop in fellow feathers! Our first off-camp meeting was an equally tremendous
success, with all members arriving at the Panera for some
evening morsels and updates on their tasks. Our skit was
nearing completion with the great work of Sean—we will
need some vocal assistance from our fellow patrols—SO
LET’S HEAR YOU! Totems were hand sewn and prepared
to hand out under the skillful talons of Rory. David has a
vision to fill our Owl stomachs on days 4-6 with some out-
standing grilled field mice and other delicacies that will for
certain draw the attention of other birds of prey in the area…
beware Eagles…Owl camp will require tremendous feats of
wisdom just to make it past our cloaking system. Matt pro-vided a tremendous outline and resource materials to really
set the Owl group project off to a soaring start. Keep an eye
out for serious episodes of knowledge transfer during our
presentation! Finally, Tim was recognized for his crafty, dili-
gent, and fast work on the Patrol flag. It will make it’s debut
weekend 2 and herald in the WHO? WHO? WHO!
Bear Patrol In a wooded glen, 7 bears sat and discussed problems of the
world. They pondered what could 7 little bear cubs do that
would make a difference. As they thought on this, one little cub
said, I think we should give a presentation to others and
share information about how they could help solve some of
these problems. We will call this a “project.” Great said the other cubs. Another cub said we should develop a flag to let
others in the woods know who we are. Great idea they said in
unison. As we walk through the woods we will hold our flag
high for all to see. Hey, said a different cub, we need to get
their attention before we talk to them so let's come up with
a skit. All the cubs loved this idea and chatted back and forth
about who would do what part. The smallest cub said all of this
talk is making me hungry. I think we need to make preparations
to eat while all of this is going on. So all the cubs discussed
what they would eat while they prepared to tackle the problems
of the world. One cub asked, how will we decide what problem
to deal with? As all the cubs thought about this, a voice was heard saying “I want each of you to come up with 5 ways you
can make the world a better place. Write your idea down and
develop a plan to see it through. You will call this, A
TICKET. Work your ticket to the best of your ability and you
will make a difference.” The little cubs looked at each other
and nodded. They knew what they must do and felt good know-
ing there was someone guiding them on this journey. At the
edge of this wooded glen sat the Momma Bear, looking, listen-
ing and smiling.
Caution—Please Don’t Feed the Bears